Stringent legal regulations on the import of food, cosmetics, and hygiene products will continue in the new Iranian calendar year (began March 21), ISNA reported.
“Import of essential goods and setting restrictions on import of medium-quality and non-essential commodities must be in line with legal norms and regulations, and this issue is high on the agenda,” said Dr. Hedayat Hosseini, general director of food and cosmetic products at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
As the domestic food industry is well established, food products are rarely smuggled. The case however is not so in the case of cosmetics. “There are no reliable figures on the volume of contraband cosmetics, but it is definitely higher than food,” Hosseini noted. Iran is doing well in the export of dairy products and detergents and has an up-and-coming confectionary industry. It has recently begun exporting cosmetic products.
“The recent trends in our exports to neighboring countries, including Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Caspian littoral states, are promising. We also have exported chocolate and sweets to Europe and the Americas, such potential can and should be exploited on the international level,” the senior food official was quoted as saying.
Encouraging domestic production and export of food, cosmetics, and hygiene products will help underpin the ‘economy of resistance’ and promote self-reliance, observers say. The FDA is offering support and facilities to domestic producers to realize that goal.
The ‘economy of resistance’ is a policy proposed by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to counter the sanctions, promote domestic growth and reduce consumption.
Hosseini also said a ‘signal system’ is to be installed on packages of certain food products this year. The system was devised by the FDA to display the nutritional value of each product on a label.
Policies of the FDA are in line with the maxim of World Health Organization (WHO) that focuses on health and food security, and all pertinent Iranian industries will be obliged to have the signal system on their products within 18 months after official notification.
